Food In Thailand

While Thai food has a reputation for being spicy, Thai food is actually based on a balance between different flavors including spicy, sour, sweet, salty, and bitter.  This goes beyond simply combining the flavors within an individual dish to incorporate the contrast in flavors between two or three different dishes, which is one reason Thai’s share meals and eat family style. One distinctive aspect of Thai food is the use of fresh herbs and spices as well as the inclusion of fermented fish sauce in nearly every dish –a potential problem for vegetarians, though saying “jay” to indicate you are vegetarian goes a long way. However, there are certainly regional variations in what is typically considered Thai food; these are due to the influences of neighboring countries, such as China, Laos, Burma, and Malaysia.  While some Thai restaurants specialize in specific dishes, most have a huge menu of Thai and western fare and prepare Thai food from throughout the kingdom.

As Thai meals are typically served family style, with all diners sharing entrees, a Thai curry or soup is usually ordered with a meal.  The consistency of each Thai curry varies widely, with some curries arguably classifiable as soups.  However, most Thai curries are coconut milk-based and some are spicier than others.  Gaeng Massaman, is a mild, peanut and potato curry; Gaeng Kiaw Wan (Thai green curry) is a curry of medium thickness and spiciness.Thai restaurants in America serve lots and lots of spring rolls – just like everyone in America must eat an egg roll with Chinese food, so Thai food is always served with a deep fried spring roll.Thailand does have deep fried spring rolls, but I could easily spend months in Thailand eating at only local street stall restaurants without ever touching spring rolls. In fact, I only know one food cart in Bangkok that even serves por pia tod on a regular basis.Thai food is very much a “taste based” cuisine.Taste testing is an extremely essential step in cooking Thai food. Even on the streets of Thailand when you order green papaya salad they occasionally will ask you to taste test it to make sure it’s alright to your liking before spooning it into a bag to go.Also, knowing how sour, sweet, spicy, and salty you want your food, getting a feel for balancing out the flavors in each Thai dish, is another important part of cooking Thai..The ingredients I’ve listed in all of these Thai recipes is a loose guide – it’s the amount I used in my recipe – but due to both different ingredients in different places and personal tastes, flavors and strengths may vary (as in 1 lime in Thailand might be more sour than 1 lime in the US).So I urge you to follow these Thai recipes, but also to taste test a lot until you have the perfect combination of ingredients.

Known in Thai as a kai jeow moo sab this is one of the most common and tasty Thai street food dishes – it’s often one of those dishes that’s ordered to complete a full Thai style stir fried meal – and something everyone loves. The egg is beat with a fork so it gets nice and fluffy, some minced pork and a splash of soy sauce are added, and it’s then fried in a wok with lots of oil. A Thai omelet is incredibly tasty, and you can replicate this Thai street food classic at home easily.
depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked to suit all palates. Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking.
Thai food is eaten with a fork and spoon. Even single dish meals such as fried rice with pork, or steamed rice topped with roasted duck, are served in bite-sized slices or chunks obviating the need for a knife. The spoon is used to convey food to the mouth. Ideally, eating Thai food is a communal affair involving two or more people, principally because the greater the number of diners the greater the number of dishes ordered. Generally speaking, two diners order three dishes in addition to their own individual plates of steamed rice. Eating & Ordering Thai Food.

Fried Ricethree diners four dishes, and so on. Diners choose whatever they require from shared dishes and generally add it to their own rice. Soups are enjoyed concurrently with rice. Soups are enjoyed concurrently with other dishes, not independently. Spicy dishes, not independently. Spicy dishes are "balanced" by bland dishes to avoid discomfort.The ideal Thai meal is a harmonious blend of the spicy, the subtle, the sweet and sour, and is meant to be equally satisfying to eye, nose and palate. A typical meal might include a clear soup (perhaps bitter melons stuffed with minced pork), a steamed dish (mussels in curry sauce), a fried dish (fish with ginger), a hot salad (beef slices on a bed of lettuce, onions, chillies, mint and lemon juice) and a variety of sauces into which food is dipped. This would be followed by sweet desserts or fresh fruits such as mangoes, durian, jackfruit, papaya, grapes or melon. One of the most iconic Bangkok street food dishes is som tam – shredded green papaya mixed with tomatoes, peanuts, dried shrimp and bathed in a fresh dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and lots of Thai chillies.The combination of seafood, needle mushrooms, sweet onions and ripe bursting tomatoes is always a good idea.If there’s one Thai food that really represents that necessary culinary comfort of Thailand, it’s a Thai egg and pork stuffed omelet. Cooked in lots and lots of oil, served over a bed of hot steamed rice and topped with tomato sauce .The coconut is a very special fruit that is used as the secret ingredient in all kinds of Thai curries. You don’t want to visit Thailand and miss a saucy coconut infused curry called ‘chu chee‘ that’s for sure! And if you follow our lead, you may even find a vegetarian rendition of this infamous southern Thai curry.